Series
Before the Cotai Strip, Macau's gaming industry was run for nearly a century by a handful of families and operators holding the monopoly concession. From Lou Kau's gambling-tax era, through Fu Tak Iam and Kou Ho Neng's Tai Heng company, to the STDM syndicate of Stanley Ho, Yip Hon, Henry Fok and Teddy Yip — this series returns to the people behind the licence, and how the gaming monopoly shaped a city's fate.
The history of Macau's gaming monopoly is a history written by a small number of people. By the late nineteenth century, the Lou Kau family were already prominent holders of the gambling-tax farm. In 1937, and formed the Tai Heng company, won the concession, and held the monopoly until 1961.
Fu Tak Iam
The "King of Gambling" in Macau from the 1930s to 1960s. In 1937 he and Kou Ho Neng formed the Tai Heng Company, won the Macau gaming concession by annual tender, and dominated the industry for over two decades while expanding into shipping, real estate, and entertainment.
Kou Ho Neng
Macau's gambling monopolist for the first half of the 20th century. From 1937 his Tai Hing consortium held the concessions for fantan, pak-kop-piu, and san-piu — dominating Macau gaming for twenty-five years until Stanley Ho displaced him in 1962.
In 1962, Stanley Ho, Yip Hon, Henry Fok and Teddy Yip formed the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM), beating Tai Heng for the next concession and opening a four-decade "gambling king" era that lasted until liberalisation in 2002.
This series records not just the handovers of the concession but the manoeuvring and choices of the people behind the licence — how a tax farm, a tender, a partnership decided the economic lifeblood of a city for nearly a century. The subject is treated in a neutral gaming-industry register.
Stanley Ho
Macau's "King of Gambling" and the founder of its modern casino industry. Held the gaming monopoly from 1962, shaping the city's modern economy for four decades.
Angela Leong
Co-Chair & Executive Director of SJM Holdings and a long-serving member of the Macao Legislative Assembly. The fourth wife of Stanley Ho, she is the most politically visible heir in the Ho family — bridging SJM's casino operations with public-affairs work.
David Chow
Founder and former Co-Chairman of Macau Legend Development, the company behind Macau Fisherman's Wharf, the Legend Grand Canal area, and the Babylon Casino. A former member of the Legislative Assembly of Macao, he stepped down from the Macau Legend board in 2022 but remains a prominent figure in Macao business.
